The Knowledge-Based Computer System Development Program of India: A Review

A five-year project, it is aimed at promoting cooperation among research centers, developing state-of-the art training and teaching programs, and demonstrating KBCS solutions to selected socioeconomic problems. The Department of Electronics, Government of India, with the assistance of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) decided in 1986 to support a five-year project on knowledge-based computer systems (KBCSs). Seven major research and teaching centers and a number of associated institutions are involved in the project. The nodal centers in this project are the Center for the Development of Advanced Computing (Pune), the Department of Electronics (New Delhi), The Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore), The Indian Institute of Technology (Madras), the Indian Statistical Institute (Calcutta), the National Center for Software Technology (Bombay), and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Bombay). The objectives are multiple but among them are to build an institutional infrastructure and promote cooperation among research centers in India; develop state-of-the-art training and teaching programs; and demonstrate specific KBCS solutions to selected socioeconomic problems encountered, in particular, in India.